Russia's attacks on Ukraine's capital leave at least 1 dead

Russia attacked Ukraine's capital on Saturday with ballistic missiles and drones, killing at least one person and injuring 27 others, authorities said, a day before talks between the presidents of Ukraine and the United States. The explosions were heard all over Kyiv as the attack began in the early hours of the morning and continued for hours. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was preparing to meet with US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday to continue talks about ending the war. Zelenskyy told reporters that he and Trump plan to discuss various topics, including security guarantees and territorial issues in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. “This attack is Russia’s response to our peace efforts. It really shows that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin does not want peace,” Zelenskyy said after making a stop in Canada to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Carney announced $1.8 billion in economic assistance to Ukraine that helps unlock financing from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for reconstruction and development. "The barbarity we saw during the night, the attack on Kyiv, shows how important it is that we support Ukraine during this difficult time," Carney said.

Attacks on residential buildings

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that it carried out a "massive attack" overnight, using "long-range precision weapons from land, air, and sea, including Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles" and drones. It claimed to have attacked energy infrastructure facilities used by Ukrainian forces and companies of the military-industrial complex. But several residential buildings were also hit. The ministry added that the offensive was in response to Ukraine's attacks on "civilian objects" in Russia. Hours earlier on Saturday, the ministry assured that its anti-aircraft batteries shot down seven Ukrainian drones overnight over the Russian regions of Krasnodar and Adygeya. On Saturday afternoon, the ministry reported that 147 more drones were shot down over several Russian regions. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses intercepted more than 20 drones flying toward the Russian capital on Saturday. He reported no damage or casualties. It was not immediately clear whether those were included in the Defense Ministry's count.

Russia claims territorial advances

In what could be considered an attempt to increase pressure on Ukraine ahead of talks between Zelenskyy and Trump, the Kremlin released a video on Saturday night of Putin in military uniform receiving reports from senior military officials at an unidentified command post. The Chief of the General Staff of Russia, General Valery Gerasimov, informed Putin that Russian troops have taken full control of Myrnograd in the Donetsk region — Russia uses the city's old Soviet name, Dimitrov —, the city of Guliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region, and some other settlements. Putin stated that "if the Kyiv authorities are not willing to resolve the matter peacefully, we will achieve all the goals we have in the special military operation by military means." The Ukrainian General Staff responded by saying that the situation in Guliaipole is "difficult, but the defensive operation in the city continues." In Myrnograd, the situation remains "complicated." "The high-ranking political leaders of the aggressor state have once again resorted to spreading false claims about the significant 'successes' of the Russian army on the battlefield," the General Staff stated in an online statement.

Poland on alert

Poland deployed fighter jets and closed the airports in Lublin and Rzeszow, near the border with Ukraine, for several hours during the Russian attacks, the country's armed forces command said on the social network X. Polish airspace was not violated, it added. The civil aviation authority, Pansa, announced that the two airports have already resumed operations. For the moment, it is unknown what caused the alert in Poland, given that the Russian attacks focused on Kiev, which is far from the border. Russia launched 519 drones and 40 missiles towards Ukraine, reported the Ukrainian air force. The main target was the energy and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, Zelenskyy pointed out. The attacks left some districts of the region without electricity or heating, he added.

A man dies in the midst of the flames

More than 10 residential buildings were damaged by the attacks, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a social media post. Olena Karpenko, 52, heard a man as he burned to death. "I can still hear his screams. I can't believe it," she said through tears. Karpenko reported that they heard a sudden explosion at a nearby thermal power plant, followed by a louder explosion that shook the windows of his house. Then came the impact on his building. Two children were among those injured in the attack, which affected seven points in Kyiv, reported the head of the city's Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, on social media. A body was found under the rubble of a building, Klymenko announced. It was not clear at the moment whether the person found under the rubble was the man who burned to death. A fire broke out in an 18-story residential building in the Dnipro district of the city, and emergency teams rushed to the scene to contain the flames. A 24-story residential building in the Darnytsia district was also hit, Tkachenko reported, and more fires occurred in the Obolon and Holosiiv districts. In the wider Kyiv region, attacks hit industrial and residential buildings, according to the Ukrainian Emergency Service. In the Vyshgorod area, emergency teams rescued a person from the rubble of a destroyed house. The largest private energy company in Ukraine, DTEK, said on X on Saturday night that the Russian attack caused "extensive power outages" in Kyiv, and that hundreds of thousands of customers were still without electricity.

Security guarantees are a priority

Zelenskyy told reporters that he would aim to ensure that there would be "the fewest possible unresolved issues" in the talks with Trump, respecting Ukraine's red lines. Speaking via audio note in a WhatsApp chat with journalists, Zelenskyy noted that he will prioritize discussing security guarantees for Ukraine. He has said that in the draft peace plan, the United States has committed to providing guarantees that reflect Article 5 of the NATO alliance, which means that an attack on Ukraine would trigger a collective military response from the United States and its allies. But the key details must be resolved in a bilateral agreement. Territorial concessions are the most sensitive topic the two leaders will discuss, including the Donetsk region and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine will never recognize any territory as Russian "under any circumstances".